5 September 2025
Hello everyone, I hope you had a wonderful weekend.
On Tuesday I had a really busy, long day! On the morning, my first meeting was with Tom Bryant the Chief Executive of Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA). We discussed the authority in general as well as having a catch up about my portfolio and future plans on education, employment and skills.
I then had catch ups with various Councillors and officers followed by a meeting with Councillor Pauline Beall, Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care along with Helen Dent who is the Project Manager for Pioneering Care Partnership (PCP). We discussed lots of areas that PCP work in but mainly about their work with our community wellbeing champions. PCP is an award-winning North East charity that improves lives by creating opportunities to improve the health, wellbeing and life chances of disadvantaged communities.
On the afternoon I had a meeting with Sarah Bowman-Abouna our Director for Public Health and Sidney Wong to discuss future plans for the Health and Wellbeing Board which I Chair.
This was followed by a regular catch up with Cleveland Police Superintendent John Wrintmore along with Marc Stephenson and Councillor Norma Stephenson. John is moving on from his work in Stockton but remaining with Cleveland Police. I wish him well in his new area of work.
Early evening, I attended the Bright Minds Big Futures (BMBF) Big Committee. BMBF is our youth-led movement who work closely with the Council to support young people in the Borough, working to make Stockton-on-Tees a great place to grow up. It was great to hear what the committee had been up to since our last meeting. Part of the meeting is the young people grilling, sorry questioning, Majella McCarthy, Cllr Clare Gamble and myself. The questions included Trans Rights, the current situation with flags around the Borough, immigration and their impending return to school or college.
On Wednesday morning I had a meeting with Cllr Pauline Beall and Sarah Bowman-Abouna about many health initiatives and future plans that we are involved with. This was then followed by a 3-hour training session in the afternoon.
Wednesday evening was my Ward Surgery for Norton Central. It's always good to get back in my Ward after being on Leader duties. Case work never stops, and I regularly get out and about walking around the Ward and meeting residents. It's always good to sit down with residents and discuss their concerns or just to have a general chit chat.
Thursday was a much quieter day and enabled me to catch up on emails, arrange meetings for next week and check the progress of case work. On most days, I generally have a conversation or catch up with Cllr Paul Rowling the Deputy Leader. I also had my usual quarterly catch up with Mike Greene, Chief Executive, and Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner Matt Storey. These quarterly catch ups ensure we maintain a close working relationship with Cleveland Police and an effective response to crime and anti-social behavioural issues across the Borough.
This morning, I headed across to Teesside Airport for an informal cabinet meeting with the TVCA. This was followed by a roundtable discussion with officers and partners on housing delivery options.
After a busy week I am hoping for a quieter weekend. Saturday morning, I am doing a walkabout with Cllr Nigel Cook, Cabinet member for Environment, Leisure and Culture, along with residents in Newtown.
I may venture out to watch the England match on Saturday afternoon with my daughter Ellie. We both love football, but I am purely a spectator! Ellie is 27 and my youngest. She also plays football for Guisborough Town so is trying to convince me to go along with her and some team mates.
I hope you have a lovely weekend.
